Police arrest man for buying products with taken over webshop accounts

The police of North Holland have arrested a 25-year-old man from Den Bosch who is suspected of having ordered products from an online store in the name of others. He would have done this by logging into the accounts of those persons.

The police write It is still being investigated how the man gained access to the accounts. The leader of the North Holland cybercrime team, Fred Ootes, states that the police are more often confronted with this form of crime and that it appears that people reuse their passwords for various online services. Although the police do not say so themselves, it is possible that the man used databases with credentials that have been previously leaked. After logging into the accounts, the man would have ordered expensive products such as smartphones and TVs.

He had these delivered to various collection points, where ‘henchmen’ collected the packages. According to the police, a second suspect is also ‘in the picture’. The products were then resold to thrift stores. According to the police, people who buy such things are guilty of receiving fencing. In addition, collection points should be checked better, for example on the basis of an identity document.

The man is suspected of fraud and computer trespass. About forty victims have now reported, who have suffered an average of a thousand euros in damage. Police expect the number of victims to rise further.